Arnold's Easter
by C. Steve McGrath1
Summary: It's Easter sunday, and Arnold and his friends won't be the ones hunting for the eggs. They're hiding them! That's when Arnold has a marvelous surprise! DISCLAIMER: Hey Arnold is property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett although I wanted to use my own ideas from real-life experiences for this work . I dedicate this story to the young and spring at heart.
1. Chapter 1

It is nine o'clock at Sunset Arms and Arnold is in his room studying for a math test by solving algebraic equations involving fractions. He just completed his studies a short time later and is walking downstairs to feed his pig, Abner, some carrots, when he suddenly thinks about how the carrot relates to the Easter bunny. He can imagine watching Bugs Bunny on TV eating a carrot and he can flashback to the time when he walked out the door with kids making fun of him…while wearing bunny pajamas. So he has an idea about what he is going to wear for Sunday. Bunny pajamas? Why not a bunny suit? Yet he is not sure about dressing up as a bunny this year.

Arnold's grandpa vacuums the carpet of the living room floor. Arnold is sitting on the couch, reading an article from the newspaper lying on the glass table. Some of the words are difficult for him to understand. It is an article concerning a church robbery near Dino Spumoni's old recording studio on the west side of town. But this is no concern to Arnold.

Meanwhile the doorbell rings.

"Hey Shortman!" Grandpa says. "Can you get that?"

Arnold's friend, Gerald, arrives at the door with a basket of eggs without yolk.

"What's up, Arnold?" Gerald asks. The boys wiggle their thumbs, like they normally do to greet each other.

"Oh," Arnold answers. "Things are going very well."

"Are your grandparents doing okay?" Gerald asks. "Can I come in?"

"Oh sure." says Arnold.

What the two boys are about to do now is dip the eggs into bowls of food coloring, carefully. In the kitchen, Arnold takes out four small, glass containers of food coloring. One of them is red, and the others are yellow, blue, and green. Then he grabs from the kitchen cabinet several bowls. He then dumps the food coloring into the bowls.

"Grandpa had surgery yesterday." Arnold tells Gerald. "He was having a heart problem."

Gerald says, "Really? I mean that's…terrible."

"Don't' worry. At least he's okay. My family has a long history of heart problems." Arnold switches the subject. "By the way you can help me dip the eggs in."

"Sure."

Meanwhile, the telephone rings. Grandpa hears it, walks into the room and holds it to his ear.

"Hello?" He answers.

"This is Phoebe Heyerdahl. How are you doing?" The voice kindly asks.

"I'm doing okay" Arnold says. "Gerald and I are at my house right now."

"Hey Arnold!"

"What?"

"There's an Easter party going on at Central Park."

"Oh really."

"Yes really, Arnold. They've got colorful eggs and all kinds of games at the party. There's also going to be an Easter bunny! Check it out!"

"When's mass?"

"There's an eleven o' clock mass at the church. Uh…Saint Francis…I think that's what it's called."

"About every year, Gerald's family goes to church."

"Would you like to meet me at the park earlier and we can go to church together? My mom is part Catholic."

"Yeah, but what time would you like to meet me?"

"Quarter to eleven."

Gerald interrupts and says "I would like to go."

Arnold tells Phoebe, "Gerald says he would like to go."

"Okay." Phoebe says. "Bye!"

Phoebe hangs up on him while he is trying to talk. Oskar Kokoschka, one of the neighbors living in Arnold's multiracial boardinghouse, walks into the kitchen area. While Grandpa continues to vacuum the floor in the other room, he walks into the kitchen and checks on the boys.

"Mr. Shortman" Gerald tells him. "The Heyerdahls invited me, and Arnold, to Sunday mass."

Arnold explains, while dipping Gerald's eggs into food coloring, "And after that, there's going to be an Easter party in the park."

Grandpa suggests "But…well…my brother-in-law and his family are having a picnic up in Canada. But it's not that far."

Grandma Gertrude enters.

"Hi Grandma!" says Arnold. He then turns to Gerald. "My grandparents and I are taking a cruise ship to Canada. And I'm assuming you're free to come with us if you like."

"Maybe I should let my dad know." Gerald says.

"Good idea" says Arnold.

"And you're the Easter bunny this year. Not Ernie." Grandpa says.

"Grandpa" Arnold complains. "I get humiliated dressing up as a bunny every year! You see I was made fun of dressing up as a bunny last Halloween. Can we just hire another Easter bunny?"

The party is at 2:00, but in Gerald's mind he is thinking about skipping the party and hanging out with the other children in the neighborhood. Arnold has a watch and knows that he does not have much time. Gerald persuades Arnold to attend a special church mass at Sampson Drive and Forty-Second Street, the location of St. Francis church. Arnold has an interest in going to mass, but he is concerned that they will not be able to hang out with the other kids for very long.

Mass usually lasts for an hour long, but today the church is celebrating an Easter vigil, which, in the Roman Catholic faith, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everyone present at mass receives candles lit from the Paschal candle. And the darkness is decreased through the "Light of Christ". The liturgy of word consists of several readings from the gospel, followed by baptismal vows and the Holy Eucharist.

Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, and her parents are in the back of this newly-renovated church. During one of the readings, Arnold accidentally gets sidetracked and spots a folded piece of thinly-furred white clothing.

"Is this your coat?" Arnold asks Phoebe.

"Ssh!" says Phoebe.

Richard "Richie" Harris, who is with his family of four, is sitting on the pews right in front of him. This short-haired kid, in his white shirt and tie, turns around and says, "Arnold, that bunny suit is for you. I'm not kidding."

Arnold thinks he just got teased again. He wants to give the folded clothing back to Richie. He is wondering who would ever want it, so he passes the suit back to the Harris'. But they ended up passing it back to him.

"They're not playing." Phoebe says.

"You mean they don't want it?" Arnold asks.

"Of course not."

Arnold then finds a note written on a loose leaf of paper that said:

TO: ARNOLD

FROM: RICHIE

Maggie, Richie's ten-year-old, red-eyed sister, turns around and giggles at him. Arnold gets frustrated but he does the appropriate thing to keep the situation to himself for now. Worse than that, the resurrection of the Lord does not mean the end of situations where living beings suffer from their own personal struggles in hell, like the sharp-clawed bunny, with a chained locket, that has just sneaked quietly from the church door and spots two kids with weird hair-dos, kneeling down and praying to God.

This bunny with one eyebrow and beautiful eyelashes happens to know the blonde kid's name. "Arnold! The lover of my dreams!"

She then looks at her locket, similar to Helga Pataki's in which it has a picture of Arnold. The bunny's monologue is powerful. Her words are very passionate in her deepest feelings toward Arnold. Oh, she admires him. Oh, she despises him. She even wonders what would happen if Arnold were a bunny, that they would maintain a perfect bond. The only problem is that she will end up being nasty towards him, so that he will be nasty towards her. Oh, how heartfelt she is, holding the locket tightly around her arms. What her thoughts add up to is love, love, LOVE!

After mass, the bunny hides behind a rose bush. Not knowing where she is going, she accidentally breaks into a colorfully fancy, stained-glass window of what is inferred to be the men's restroom, where Arnold is pressured to put on his white rabbit costume. The glass shatters on the white, marble floor, where all of Arnold's clothes are lying. His socks and street shoes are also on the floor. The only thing he is wearing is his sci-fi, space-like, Rich Sac. This is what Richie Harris calls a zentai suit. It has a face-lining hood and two invisible zippers in the back. This tight piece of cloth covers and adds pressure to his entire body and is made from a combination of latex, nylon, and spandex and from soft, natural, skin-tight rabbit fur on the outside. An invisible armor that cannot be seen at all protects him from stickiness, discomfort, and bodily injury. The costume also includes bendable bunny ears, a natural, bushy bunny tail, and a hair and face-lining hood with brushed, white hair extending to his blushing cheeks, and toed feet and attached gloves with claws giving him a grip.

Arnold does not have his hood on just yet nor does he have the make-up on his face. Gerald spots the rabbit that just broke in from the window when he tells Arnold to put his hood up so that he can zip his back up for him. Why does Arnold have to zip all the way? Well, there is a bunny in the room, one who really likes him and wants to play with him. Arnold looks in the mirror and tries to hide his hair and adjust his face to make him look foxy, but the hood has already been adjusted. But also the suit makes him look skinnier so he looks great. When the girl bunny laughs at him, he gives a scornful glance at her and walks out the door. The door is propped open.

"I'm going to fold these clothes of yours. I'll be there in just one moment" says Gerald.

"Okay Gerald" says Arnold.

While Gerald folds Arnold's clothes, keeping them away from the broken glass, he turns to the rabbit and asks "Are you okay?"

BUNNIES are usually quiet, and this one is no exception. A mime who uses what turns out to be sign language. Her response to Gerald would be thumbs up. When Gerald walks out of the bathroom, the girl bunny hides her locket under the glass to keep it secure.

Richard Ebenezer Harris thinks he left his comic book on one of the pews of the church, so he leaves his mom, dad, and other sister hanging and rushes into the church, with the sound of the stream of holy water being heard throughout the quiet sanctuary. He does not notice the sounds of footsteps behind him, and he is very confused. When he left the church, he had the book while it was still in his hands. He assumes that he might have dropped it on the floor. Arnold and Gerald enter.

"Richard!" Gerald taps his shoulder.

"What?" Richard responds. "I need some help looking for my 'Life in Hell' comic book!"

Arnold finds a magazine on the red-carpeted floor and picks it up. "Are you talking about this?"

"Yes."

Phoebe Heyerdahl re-enters the church, walks into the room, joins in the conversation, and hugs Arnold, noticing how adorable he is.

Richie mentions, "I think I forgot to put make-up on his face. Usually bunnies have white faces and blush cheeks."

"Do you think Arnold needs make-up?" Phoebe asks.

Richard tells her that his sister will brush white make-up all over his face with furred texture and add a little blush to the cheeks. But the nose mask…well…he does not have a mask for the nose to fit a football-shaped head.

"I've been waiting!" Phoebe says. "C'mon you guys."

The four kids walk the Emmaus way of the church, heading for Central Park. Yet the kids do not know how to help Arnold overcome the humiliation of being a bunny rabbit, except to remind him not to reveal himself because revealing gives it all away.

When they walk out of the church, Arnold covers his face with his hands as a means of concealing himself. Maggie Ann Harris is concerned and frustrated about her younger brother.

"Richard?" she says. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She glimpses at the bunny rabbit.

Richard is attempting to speak but Maggie interrupts him.

"Is that you football head?" she asks.

Gerald says, "That's the Easter bunny!"

Phoebe whispers in Maggie's ear and says that Arnold needs make up. Richard tells Maggie that he just found his "Life in Hell" comic book on the floor, in the church.

"Look here punk, our parents are waiting for us!" says Maggie.

But Richie has a proposition for her. "I can tell easily that the bunnies' faces in that book are like the Simpsons."

Maggie is saying that she will go with her suggestions. "Oh really."

She then turns to Arnold. "Come on, Arnold. Show your face." She asks. "I'm not gonna make fun of you. I promise."

But when Arnold tilts his head up and uncovers his eyes, Maggie starts to giggle. "I knew it was you!"

"What's so funny?" Arnold asks.

"Your outfit is so cute!"

She takes out her make-up kit from her pants pocket and tells Arnold to hold still while she applies the make-up. She takes Richard's suggestions that the nose is not necessary for disguise. She then takes out her white make-up paint and applies it to Arnold's face to cover it up. The reddish dust is applied to the cheeks after wards. She then uses her brother's fur texture sample on sandpaper, pressing it on Arnold's face to disguise the skin with fur.

"Why?" Phoebe says. "This is going to be the perfect disguise. You're the real Easter bunny!"

While the others who are with Arnold agree with Phoebe, Gerald tells Arnold, "Mm-Mm-mm. That girl bunny in the church will think you're cool!"

Arnold and Gerald are already finished with coloring eggs. It is 12:35 now and Arnold has his watch on his wrist, over his costume, with his clothes and cap in his arm. He knows he does not have much time. The boys rush back to Sunset Arms.

When they get inside, Grandma Gertrude notices a rabbit and serves him a bowl of salad with freshly-cut carrots. She does not know it _is_ Arnold, but she is surprised to _see _the real bunny.

Arnold looks at his watch. "It's seven to one and we don't have much time!"

Grandma happens to recognize the voice, but she does not know if it _is _her grandson.

"This is the Easter Bunny, Mr. Shortman" Gerald lies. "He's not wearing a costume. He's real!"

"It can't be!" Grandpa is surprised.

"This has got to be the biggest bunny I've ever seen!" says Grandma. "You know pets are welcome here anytime."

Gerald asks. "Do you have extra baskets? I'm just wondering."

Arnold is like, "Uh-huh."

"Gosh" says Grandpa, amazed. "This bunny can actually talk!"

"What's in them? You have plastic eggs with candy and cash in them."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm looking at your watch, Arnold. And we still have time to go to the park."

A familiar name came to Grandpa's mind. "Arnold."

"I can't believe this, Pookie!" Grandpa Phil gasps. "It's Arnold! He's been turned into a bunny rabbit by…a magic spell."

"Mm-mm-mm! I told you the Easter bunny was real" says Gerald.

"Where are you going, shortman?" he says while the boys try to sneak away. "Don't forget! The party is at four and we're going to Canada in an hour. You, me, and Pookie."

"Grandpa, can uh…Gerald come with us? He might be free."

"All right, Gerald." Grandpa sighs. "The phone is on the counter whenever you need to…call your folks."

"Don't hang out too long, boys" says Grandma. "You're gonna have lots and lots of fun up in Canada ho!"

"Like I said before, my brother-in-law needs an Easter bunny."

The boys feel kind of frustrated.


	2. Chapter 2

It is one in the afternoon. Maggie and Richard and several other friends: Curly, Sid, Stinky, Phoebe, Sheena, Nadine, Iggy, Lila, and Rhonda are going to be participating in an Easter egg hunt. The bunny, which is being hired _as_ the Easter bunny, just appears to be someone in a suit and has just made a special appearance in the park for the kids to see him. On a clear, sunny, beautiful afternoon, the pigeons nibble on crumbs near an elderly man sitting on a park bench, reading a newspaper. Little birdies and butterflies fly around and feed on the cherry blossoms and other flowers nearby.

Back on Vine Street, the girl bunny watches Gerald and the football-headed "bunny boy" walk out of Sunset Arms. The boys run off and notice all the sudden that another bunny is chasing them down a narrow alley, surrounded by apartments.

The chase continues when they run over to the park, getting barked at by angry dogs on leashes and being pursued by the girl bunny with the beautiful eyelashes. She then gets distracted by a larger Easter bunny. That person in a mascot bunny costume is hiding colorful eggs, while Arnold and Gerald escape her, as she climbs to the top of a tree.

She hangs onto one of the branches a goldfinch is standing on and accidentally falls to the ground, hitting her head. She is not hurt but the goldfinch, the state's state bird, took off.

She knows that someone is behind the costume, and when she removes the mascot head she discovers that it is a man she knows already.

Surprise is her response. "Principal Wartz!"

"You are going to get me fired, Miss Long Ears!"

The bunny does not seem to listen to him. Hopping with her hands and feet together, she steals her pink basket of eggs because she is assuming that Wartz took hers by mistake. Wartz is furious. Taking his place, the bunny skips in an open grass area, tossing colored eggs.

When she realizes she had run out of eggs, she is then spotted and attracted by people who feel that they are attracted to her. The crowd of several lighthearted spectators in the park, especially fashion and newspaper photographers, journalists, children and families, believe in the Easter bunny, that they have found the real one. It was similar to that of a fashion show. The stunned creeps watch her every move in a series of cute, feministic poses. She would rest her head on her hands and pretend to fall asleep, to cry and cover her face with her ears, do a cat stretch, hop like a frog, or practice her ballet techniques. She would pick several flowers at one time and smell them as if she is holding onto her heart. She would hold her chained locket in her arms, twist and stumble. She would blow a kiss, turn her hips around, run her cheeks, make less of an expression on her face, etc. The point is she is attempting to act like a real rabbit as herself. Bunnies are usually quiet towards human beings, so she pretends to be a mime. Children do not mind taking photographs with the Easter bunny. Most of the time she is with the children, she looks at the photographers with a blank expression on her face like "What?"

Phoebe and the gang have run into Gerald, Ludwig and Wolfgang (two bullies from P.S. 118), and another Easter bunny in the park, this one with green eyes. Lila Sawyer is saying that people here in the city never see an Easter bunny so handsome as someone about her size, neither do the other kids. She kisses the bunny on the cheek before Arnold tries to hide his face.

Gerald says "We were just chased by a girl bunny and then we met up with Wolfgang and Ludwig, then we found you guys."

"Who's that kid wearing a costume?" Stinky Peterson asks.

"Don't tell anybody his name." Sid says.

"So you boys are hanging out with the Easter bunny" says Nadine.

Gerald says "That's right."

Ludwig says, "What about the hunt?"

Wolfgang van Altz kicks him in the stomach and tells him to shut up.

Phoebe Heyerdahl has an idea that just came into her mind. Since she and the rest of the gang have their baskets, maybe they can help the Easter bunny hide the eggs instead of taking part in the Easter egg hunt, which is coming up.

The girl bunny hides behind a tree and sees as many as fifteen kids splitting up with their full baskets of eggs. She knows one of them could be the bunny boy.

She takes out the chained locket from her basket and looks at it. "Oh Arnold, oh love, my sultry preteen in bunny pajamas, why should I hold you only whilt I dream, even whilt I find you?"

The kids hide the eggs where no one will be able to find them easily in the park, in the tall trees and bushes, under the flower beds, under the benches, on the sidewalks, or even in the grass. While Arnold skips around throwing colored eggs, the girl bunny spots him again. He keeps hopping around when suddenly, "Wow!" He could not resist the beauty of the most beautiful long-footed creature in the park. He was so stunned that she would be the perfect bunny to date with. She comes out of the bush and is dancing her way towards him. He picks up a few dandelions under the shade of beautiful cherry blossoms and starts to whistle, stomping his feet. He and the bunny later walk closer together and begin to kiss.

The bunny boy and bunny girl take one step further and hold each other while kissing. This romance gets interrupted when Curly Gammelthorpe discovers the both of them. Identifying the male, he comes directly behind him and takes the hood off. The bunny boy turns around when he hears laughter in the background, from Nadine, Stinky, and Curly himself. They now find out the secret. It's Arnold!

Noticing her mate is a human being, the female bunny starts to hate him by shoving him. Arnold pulls his hood back up and speaks. "All right, pretend it's not me."

"But we know who's who, football head!" says Wolfgang.

Stinky finds the two bunnies. "It looks like you're in love with someone your own size!"

"I am?" Arnold asks. He turns to Wolfgang and says, "I wish you were dead."

"Don't say that towards Wolfgang" says Phoebe. "He might hurt you again."

Arnold apologizes.

Within minutes, the others meet up with them and Arnold is thinking about playing a game of football.

"I got a ball right here, Arnold!"

"Great!" says Arnold. "First…oh let's say it's Easter and…"

He is interrupted by a squirt of water in his face and the kids start laughing. Arnold spots someone hiding behind the entrance to the park and notices that everyone is quiet and not leaving.

He continues. "Okay, everybody close your eyes. Pretend Arnold is not here. Poof! Be gone!"

Brainy _is_ hiding behind the wall, armed with a water gun, and knows which bunny is Arnold.

"Now…" says Arnold "Open your eyes!"

Suddenly, Brainy was squirting water at the bunnies' faces and causing the huge group of kids to spread out. This is just a game. What is more fun than that? Brainy has not only one or two but three water gun, fully loaded. He can take two guns and shoot them in the head_ and _face. The bunnies run off, Brainy the Geek has binoculars in hand, and he ruthlessly squirts classmates until all the white disappears from the face of a football-shaped head. When the girl bunny notices Brainy, he has a surprise for her.

"I'm going to…do something to you little…Geek Bait!" says the girl bunny. And then he ends up squirting her in the face and sneaks away. Arnold and the girl bunny begin to notice that their faces have started to change. They both noticed that their faces had turned from a whitish to a peachier color through squirts of water.

The girl bunny can now recognize the face of a classmate. "Arnold! What are you doing here?"

Arnold has a thought in his mind, "This is unbelievable! She can actually talk!" But then he notices a strange but straight line running across her face, which stops at the nose and keeps on going. Then he finds out that the girl bunny is just someone in a costume.

Arnold wants to tease the kid in a costume by grabbing onto her. "I got your nose!"

The girl is getting pretty frustrated but Arnold happens to discover that the whiskered nose is a nose mask; he uses his two hands to pull it up. But the girl does not want to reveal herself and she is getting him to back off. She turns away with Arnold right behind him.

"I'd like to see what's under that hood of yours if you don't mind." says Arnold as he grabs her head. "Now relax! I wanna know who you are. Please!"

"Let go of me, football head!" says the girl bunny. "I swear I'm gonna hurt you!"

Arnold notices a back zipper and pulls it down a little; but when he pulls her eared hood down, he discovers another white hood. This one does not have fur on the ears but it _is_ made of tightly-thin, silver armor. The angry girl's hair is not shown, because it is tucked beneath the hood.

"Who are _you_?" He asks.

"Crimeny" says the girl bunny as the kids begin to meet back up by the bench near the park entrance. "I just can't reveal myself, Arnold."

The kids begin to laugh.

She continues. "I can't reveal myself. I'm in a costume."

"I'm sorry?" says Arnold.

"Got that right. I told you I was going to hurt you!"

Maggie comments, "Hey Richard, was that the same costume you made for Arnold?

Richie replies, "Well I offered the costume to Arnold and the mystery kid on purpose."

Rhonda walks back over and asks, "Do these costumes look the same?"

The "mystery kid" must be the bunny girl. She puts her eared hood up and straightens it.

Richie says, "Yes, definitely. They are just the same prototype, except Arnold doesn't have the mask or the extra white suit beneath it. The other bunny doesn't have the whiskers covering her cheeks.

Nadine says, "Never before, in my life, have I seen a bunny costume so tight like that, Arnold.

Phoebe asks, "Are you talking about the "mystery kid?"

"Naw." Stinky tells Nadine. "She's talkin' bout Arnold."

"I am the mystery kid, jerk!" The girl bunny says.

None of the kids know who she is, because she is wearing a pressurizing, white hood.

But Arnold does recognize her face and is actually the first person to guess her name. "Helga?"

"How did you know my name?" the girl asks. "You're not supposed to know my name!"

"Helga Geraldine Pataki?" Phoebe asks Arnold.

"Exactly." says Arnold.

"You're right." says the girl. She immediately shakes her head and intends to say something mean, as if she were a bully at school. "I mean you weren't supposed what my name is. Think of it this way. You are not the Easter bunny you think you are, scaring the geez out of me, bucko."

Lila Sawyer looks around the park and Helga catches her.

And Helga says, "Hey! Are you staring at the grown-up in a costume? He's not the Easter bunny. I _am _the Easter Bunny!"

"What happened to your face, Helga?" Lila asks. "Your fur got shaved off?"

HELGA looks blankly at her without saying a word and turns to the bunny boy obnoxiously, thinking he is a hypocrite. "You think you're the Easter bunny at City Park, but you're not."

Iggy has a football in his hands and passes it to Arnold who hides it behind his back and smiles.

"I'm saying, Geek Bait, you're stalking me, like you're coming up to me and trying to kiss me, football head! Be yourself!"

Richard begins to chuckle behind him when Arnold turns around and asks, "Why are you laughing? It's not funny."

"Girls are so mean!" says Richard.

"What did you say to me you little jerk?" Helga says

"Hey!" says Arnold. "Are you ready for some football?"

"You bet I am" she says. "And this time we're gonna kick your head!"

"You mean Arnold is the football?" Sid asks. "He has a ball in his hands already."

Helga puts a blank expression on her face, and then she makes a deal. "Oh yeah? How about this!" She pauses to make the other kids nervously anticipate an answer. And then she continues.

"I think the boys should be on one team and the girls on the other."

Arnold disagrees and says "Maybe we should even it out a little bit."

"You're right. It's Battle of the Sexes."

So Arnold, Richard, Gerald, Sid, Stinky, Ludwig, Iggy, and Rhonda are on one team and Phoebe, Maggie, Helga, Curly, Wolfgang, Lila, Sheena, and Nadine are on the other. This is not the "Battle of the Sexes". Helga's plan would have worked out better – if there were fewer boys in the group.

Arnold has not noticed any yellow birds lately, but something wacky happens. A group of yellow ducklings want to join Arnold's team. Helga is jealous.

"Don't tell me you've been messing around with other chicks!" says Helga.

"No!" says Arnold. "Did they think I was a bunny? I mean, I was hiding the eggs but I didn't see the chicks."

"I hid some eggs too, football head! Let me guess. You don't love me." She puts back on her nose mask.

Stinky cracks up and says, "Naw. The eggs were hidin'."

While the kids laugh, Arnold tries to tell Helga "I swear. I love you. Period. Now let's start the play."

"What time is it by the way?" Rhonda asks. "I'm just curious."

Arnold glances at his wristwatch and realizes it is after two o' clock already. "It's ten after two."

"At least we still got time" says Gerald.

"Guess what, Arnold! Your team just lost!" Helga says. Arnold teammates started to get angry while thinking the game is over.

"But…" Gerald argues. "The game hasn't started yet!"

"C'mon Gerald" Arnold says as he and Gerald walk away. "We're headed for Canada."

"Where are you going, football head?" Wolfgang asks. "The game's just begun!"

Gerald suddenly sees a convertible driving fast down the road towards him and Arnold and gets his attention. "Look out!"

A pedestrian light signals the boys to safely cross a one-way street, but the light is not properly working. Arnold quickly turns around and then…slapstick! He gets hit by the car. Thankfully Arnold is not injured, but the kids laugh and ridicule him. And thankfully, he did not go under, because if he did he would choke on monoxide. The driver, Miriam Pataki, Helga's mom, is an alcoholic. But she is glad she has not been drinking _in _the car.

Her husband, Bob, is riding shotgun with him now. "Miriam, pull over dear!" he asks. While giggling nervously, Miriam is staring into the boy's eyes and his cute face and there is an urge in her mind to pull over, shift to rear, and then to neutral to claim a parking spot. She starts to feel guilty that she might have killed an innocent creature.

"Roadkill." she faints.

"Miriam," Bob decides. "Are you okay? You must be having a problem."

"No, it's just that…"

Bob interrupts her. "Do you know where Helga is?"

"I don't know. The last time I saw her was just this morning."

"You helped her put on the costume she was going to wear for a beepers commercial."

"You can say that, but you know little Maggie Ann gave it to her as a birthday present."

"Yeah, I remember that."

"That was the cutest costume I ever seen."

Bob breathes heavily. "I've seen it. Let's switch places." They get out of the car and Bob suddenly sees kids laughing. Gerald catches up to Arnold who just slipped away from the convertible.

Helga conspires, "You know Phoebe, I think I'm going to do a prank on Arnold. I kissed him one time and this next kiss maybe his last."

"Where do you think he's going?" asks Sid.

"Who knows?" says Helga. "He might as well fail to disguise himself. What's he gonna do now? Lay an egg?"

While the football-headed kid walks down the street, the kids think he could be passing gas and start laughing at him. At least they think they could not have much fun without the Easter bunny around.


End file.
